Grand Canyon

Several years ago when my daughter was in 7^th grade, I surprised her and my father on Christmas day with airline tickets to travel to Arizona in March of the following year.  Of course we made it to the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, Sedona, an abandoned copper mine, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Phoenix and other places.  The most special place was the Grand Canyon.

When we first arrived at the canyon it was nearly 11:00 p.m. at night, we drove up to the rim and parked, and while the others waited in the car I ran out and looked over edge.  Of course, could really see nothing, but could sense the vastness of the space and immediately understood the power of this special place and felt the spirit of the canyon overtake my soul.  There was an inner excitement which stirred within me, as the moment had arrived to visit a place I always had wanted to experience.

The next morning, we awoke bright and early, well maybe not so bright, but definitely early around 4:00 a.m. to position ourselves at the rim for the first crackling of dawn over the canyon.  I worried the night before that we may not get up in time, but my dad was the first one awake and roused our bodies and spirits to get moving.  We stayed in the park at one of the lodges and we only traveled three minutes to the parking lot near the rim.  When we arrived only a handful of enthusiast like us were there, but every five minutes or so more additional people arrived to view one of the most glorious sights on earth.  As the sun rose over the canyon it glistened through the clouds as if the light was awakening each geographic formation as the sun’s rays touched their face.  The colors were magnificent, brilliant and bold, unlike many of the professional photographers with camera lenses that appeared to be three feet long capturing every glimpse of this impressive event, I had only my disposable camera, but yet the shots taken in the panoramic mode still grace the top of my file cabinet in my office and remain impressive. The reverence of our comrades that morning was notable, as each person came there for his or her own individual reasons.  Some only to view another sunrise, others to dwell upon the multi-faceted colors of the sky and the rock, and for a few to be spiritually moved by the inner feelings of their soul as the sun not only touched the earth, but their face as something deep within was awakened.

The Native Americans, including the Havasupi, Hopi, Navajo, Southern Paiute, Hualapai tribes and others felt a deep reverence for the canyon and some believed this is where life began.  Some of the most spiritual felt this place to be other-worldly as their ancestors spirits dwelled there, hence the term ‘wind- walkers’ as Indian spirits.

Upon leaving our sunrise viewing point, my father, daughter and I traveled in our rental car to the cafeteria for breakfast, while driving we came upon a large moose in the road, a spectacular creature creating a greater feeling of excitement for our day’s adventure. Upon finishing breakfast, we walked through some small buildings highlighting the history of canyon, exploration, settlements and ancient daily life.  After an hour or so, our real adventure began.

We walked along the edge of the south rim of canyon, the path well worn by many who have gone before as the park boasts around five million visitors a year.   Obviously, not everyone would embark upon what we had decided to do hiking along the edge as far as we could.  Truthfully, I am not sure if my daughter and dad understood my plan, but they quickly embraced my idea.  We started walking the path which was at first a few yards from the edge.  As we continued forward on our path the yards turned into feet and feet turned into inches and we literally walked along the edge of canyon.  In some places if you stumbled and fell, there would only be less than ten feet before encountering an obstacle to break your fall and as we continued forward the drops became larger and in some places it may have been hundreds of feet or perhaps more if you have stumbled.  As a father, when we first encountered these places fear quelled in my veins as I worried about my daughter.  Of course, her independent spirit and confidence overrode my worries.

The views were unbelievable absolutely divine, it was very easy to determine why the Native Americans felt this place to be so sacred.  We filled our eyes with so much beauty, each glance was like a taking a photo to be imprinted within our minds forever.  Our souls were alive, you could feel a deep stirring with each step, and every glance, walking and remaining quiet.  I am sure like myself, my father thought many thoughts about his life, those he had encountered, who he is, where he is going and how God had impacted him.  I am sure he prayed as I prayed for others, for peace, for love, and for release. 

My Dad, the history teacher recalled the exploits of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and how he taken a small group of Spanish soldiers led by Hopi guides to the canyon in 1540.  And of course, you thought about John Wesley Powell who in 1869 traveled down the mighty Colorado River which appeared to be only a small stream from so far above.

We kept walking as the sun moved over us and then as it shined directly overhead we stopped to eat as I had carried a backpack with drinks and food.  We all remained in a cheerful spirits and continued our momentary quest.  Each view seemed to overshadow what we had seen before, our souls filled with the most beautiful views which nature has to offer.  It was incredible!  We experienced amazing view after amazing view, and after awhile we walked off the path and into place of sparse woods and native grass blazing our own trail until we came upon the well worn path again.  As we walked along the trail we could see the north rim and imagined what the scene must look like from a different vantage point.  We were not the only ones who had chosen our fanciful venture, as talking to others we learned of the viewing point for sunset.  We continued walking and finally arrived at the end of our trail and along with many others positioned ourselves to view the next most magnificent event of the day, ‘the sun disappearing on the other side of the canyon’.  You could see for miles and miles, it is scene you must see for yourself.

In the darkness we climbed aboard a bus and traveled past each of the points where we had visited marking our day’s journey recalling the voyage of our souls.  When we arrived back, we lined up behind many others at the cafeteria tired yet truly satisfied.  We ended up walking twelve miles that day and enjoyed one of the memorable experiences of our lives.